The below is from: channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/chasing-ufos/ New Series premiere: Friday, June 29, 9 PM

A team of trained investigators sets out to uncover the truth about UFOs. But theyre not just looking for more stories on extraterrestrial activitythey want answers. Risking it all, this team of scientists and UFO researchers investigate and dissect some of the most mysterious sightings on the planet to unearth stunning new evidence. The data they collect on these adventures paints an entirely new picture of what we know about these strange lights in the sky.

Five Good Reasons To Believe in UFOs By: Patrick J. Kiger

As most credible UFOlogists readily admit, proving that extraterrestrial spacecraft have visited our planet is a maddeningly difficult chore.

The hassle over the word "proof" boils down to one question: What constitutes proof? Edward J. Ruppelt, who headed the U.S Air Forces secret investigation of UFOs in the early 1950s, once wrote. Does a UFO have to land at the River Entrance to the Pentagon, near the Joint Chiefs of Staff offices? Or is it proof when a ground radar station detects a UFO, sends a jet to intercept it, the jet pilot sees it, and locks on with his radar, only to have the UFO streak away at a phenomenal speed? Is it proof when a jet pilot fires at a UFO and sticks to his story even under the threat of court-martial? Does this constitute proof?

More recently, Investigative journalist Leslie Keen, author of the 2011 book UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record, has noted that in roughly 90 to 95 percent of UFO sightings, observers turn out actually to have seen weather balloons, ball lightning, flares, aircraft, and other mundane phenomena. But another five to 10 percent of sightings are not so easily explainable, but thats not the same as demonstrating that they are extraterrestrial in origin. Nevertheless, she argues, the hypothesis that UFOs are visitors from other worlds is a rational one, and must be taken into account, given the data that we have.

Here is some of the most compelling evidence for that hypothesis:

 The long, documented history of sightings. UFOs were around, in fact, long before humans themselves took to the air. The first account of a UFO sighting in America was back in 1639, when Massachusetts colony governor John Winthrop noted in his journal that one James Everell, a sober, discreet man, and two other witnesses watched a luminous object fly up and down the Muddy River near Charlestown for two to three hours. There are documented sightings of sightings of what were then called airships during the 1800s as well, such as the July 1884 sighting of a Saturn-shaped UFO (a ball surrounded by a ring) in Norwood, NY, and a fast-moving object that briefly hovered over the startled townspeople of Everest, KS in 1897.

 Numerous modern sightings by credible, well-trained professional observers. In Ruppelts 1955 book , The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, he documented numerous instances of military service members, military and civilian pilots, scientists and other credible professionals who had observed UFOs. In one instance, Ruppelt describes the experience of a pilot of an Air Force F-86 fighter jet, who was scrambled to track a UFO and got to within 1,000 yards of a saucer-shaped object that abruptly flew away from him in a burst of speed after he fired upon it. He also mentions a 1948 UFO encounter in which two airline pilots got to within 700 feet of a UFO and saw two rows of windows with bright lights.

 Consistencies in the descriptions of purported alien ships. Over the decades, witnesses whove seen UFOs have shown remarkable consistency in the shapes and other characteristics of the objects theyve described. In 1949, the authors of the report for Project Sign, one of the early military investigations of UFOs, identified four main groups of objectsflying disks or saucers, cigar or torpedo-shaped craft without wings or fins, spherical or balloon-shaped objects that were capable of hovering or flying at high speed, and balls of light with no apparent physical form that were similarly maneuverable. Nearly a quarter-century later, a French government investigation headed by Claude Poher of the National Center for Space Research found similar patterns in more than 1,000 reports from France and various countries. One caveat is that in recent years, reports of wedge-shaped UFOswhich bear a similarity to the latest terrestrial military aircrafthave begun to supplant some of the traditional shapes.

 Possible physical evidence of encounters with alien spacecraft. The 1968 University of Colorado report, compiled by a team headed by James Condon, documented numerous instances of areas where soil, grass, and other vegetation apparently had been flattened, burned, broken off, or blown away by a UFO. A report by Stanford University astrophysicist Peter Sturrock, who led a scientific study of physical evidence of UFOs in the late 1990s, describes samples of plants taken from a purported UFO landing site in France in 1981. French researchers found that the leaves had undergone unusual chemical changes of the sort that could have been caused by powerful microwave radiationwhich was even more difficult to explain, considering that they found no trace of radioactivity at the site.

 Documented physiological effects on UFO witnesses. The Sturrock report describes in detail various symptoms experienced by individuals who had encountered UFOS, ranging from burns and temporary deafness to persistent nausea and memory loss. Among the most vivid examples: Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Landrums young grandson Colby, who reportedly happened upon a large, diamond-shaped object hovering over a Texas road in December 1980. All three became ill afterward; Cash, for example, developed large water blisters on her face and swelling that closed her eyes, in addition to severe nausea and diarrhea. The effects persisted for years, and she was hospitalized more than two dozen times.

May 8, 1950-This is one of the most famous UFO pictures ever taken. Photographed by Paul Trent, and first witnessed by his wife. They were published in a local newspaper in McMinnville, Oregon. Shortly thereafter, the Trent photos were published in Life magazine edition of June 26, 1950. The rest is history. (These photos have been deemed authentic for over 50 years. The analysis of the McMinnville photos by Dr.Bruce Maccabee PhD, can be found here = http://brumac.8k.com/trent1.html )

Those interested in the uap/ufo ping list, please Freepmail LasVegasDave (freepmail works best) if you would like your name added to the list. ( Approximately 200+ freepers are currently on the ping list ).

2
posted on 06/28/2012 2:31:13 AM PDT
by Las Vegas Dave
("All 57 states must stand together and defeat O-bozo!-LIBERIALISM is a mental illness")

Despite listening to Kook to Kook AM, for amusement only, I do not buy into the ET craze, nor do I believe that we have or are being visited.
I find it starnge that all reports of sightings and contacts are ALL anicdotal.
I have yet to hear of a visit, or even sighting of any substance, as in one landing in a public, or verifible location.

While their may be other life in the universe, we pretty well know that it is not within our solar system, and the closest would be over 11 light years away...very long trip.

The ET crowd now has to rely on the unproven idea of worm holes and parallel universes to keep the dream alive.

Our government treats us like mushrooms about everything else, why not UFOs.

My wife, son and neighbor saw a UFO close up hovering above them. I was there, but in the woods, they were in a clearing.

I saw one (it's lights) directly above me and clear as can be for over ten minutes. My wife myself and two friends saw it along with HUNDREDS (maybe thousands) of other people in our area. An employee of mine saw it along with many others from the mall. I was on the lake on my boat. It made the news in a nearby city. It was silent, and was several lights in a triangle formation. We were trying to figure out what these stationary lights were, thinking it was several different objects. Then it rotated and slowly headed off to the south. I was shocked to realize it was all one object and how HUGH it was. No blimps were in the area, military had nothing in the area, we got the old “maybe it was a weather balloon” nonsense.

There is NO DOUBT, UFOs (unidentified flying objects) exist! What they are and who might be piloting them, I have no clue.

9
posted on 06/28/2012 3:19:52 AM PDT
by faucetman
( Just the facts, ma'am, Just the facts)

I think the people who are deluded are the “debunkers”, whom some seem to consider essential on many of these programs “to provide balance” but who in fact cling to some sort of faith that only the mundane exists.

They've already selected their conclusion. Not scientific and this leads them off the cliff every time. It's like saying birthers try to prove Obummer was born in Kenya. Ah, not the point. The point is to show that Obummer is not a "natural born citizen" as described in the US Constitution and Obummer therefore is not eligible to be elected or to serve as President.

The first person to read up on UFO's is Jacques Vallee, who does take a scientific approach. Ignore the ET stuff as logically inacceptable.

There have been many reports through the years that are utterly unexplainable--not just UFOs--for example: the water marks on the sphinx, crop circles, ancient batteries, Pumapunku, Stonehenge, Atlantis, idiots savants, the Ur battery, Nasca, people struck by lightening who suddenly develop extraordinary powers e.g. speaking a foreign language or playing the piano, remote viewing, miracle cures, Fatima.

Many people try to force such things into a preconceived mold or a popular narrative, whether they fit or not. It's hard for many people to live with uncertainty.

The MSM tends to conceal such reports as resolutely as they conceal unwelcome information about their favorite political candidates.

One of the most interesting was a report from Peru several decades in which a member of the Peruvian Army, on maneuvers, went to investigate lights in the distant mountains and returned a few hours later, confused and with a several days' growth of beard on his face.

To jump to conclusions about such unexplained phenomena is silly--especially to deny outright the veracity of such reports.

I enjoy Coast to Coast AM. I work European hours - other than Bloomberg Radio or Sports talk, its the only thing on.
Of course it’s all hysteria, but I do appreciate the people that call in and talk about their (insert_technical_name_here) Device and how they just picked up Toxic readings from the Chem-trails!

The purpose of UFOlogy and Cryptozoology and whatever __ology you can deliver is to add an ouncce of credibility to the art of the campfire story.

Yes, history is full of unexplainable phenomena.
Few consider them as signs from God, but that is as logical
of an explanation as any.
You mentioned crop circles, one of the holy grails for UFO buffs.
I was in Romania for an evening, watching a cable TV program on crop circles.
It was very detailed in how they are made, down to where they even heat broken crop stalks to make it look like it was from radiation.
Crop circles have become a true art form.

Yes, I find Kook to Kook to be a real hoot sometimes.
Today’s program was a great example.
MoonBats, obviously trying anything to get on the air.

I do, however, give credit to Art Bell, a fellow ham radio guy, and resident of the Philippines, for his conception of a very sucesfull and financialy rewarding radio program.
Even the kooks of the world need their Coast to Coast.

“Of course its all hysteria, but I do appreciate the people that call in and talk about their (insert_technical_name_here) Device and how they just picked up Toxic readings from the Chem-trails!”
_____________________________________________________

Well now, I DO believe in Chem-trails.....
When I had my farm in Tennessee, I saw that Stearman come down over my cotton crop and put out the most impressive chemtrail you could ever imagine ;)

Allen Hynek, who was at first a determined skeptic, and Jacque Vallee both eventually concluded that what was thought to be exterrestrial was in fact extradimensional.

Considering descriptions of the millions of abduction reports, what we think of as ET's are most likely demonic (their actions fit neatly within what is known of demonic possession and their message is always anti-Christian).

I’m starting to think the same way. I have seen multiple debunkers of the Patterson film of the supposed Sasquatch and all the debunkers have done is debunk their own debunking. I don’t know what the film really shows but it is NOT someone in an old time gorilla suit as some believe. It is NOT someone in a suit such as was used in Planet of the Apes, it looks nothing like that. Arthur C. Clarke had a show for a while that seemed to actually take an honest look at things and I recall that Clarke actually debunked Amazing Randi! The show examined the possibility of finding oil, water etc. underground by divining or “witching” as some call it. Clarke went over an experiment set up by Randi which claimed to disprove the phenomenon, what Clarke showed was that while Randi’s experiment actually seemed to disprove divining there was one flaw. When the diviners looked for water their results were BETTER than chance. Randi had ignored this and simply went with the results of looking for oil in underground pipes and claimed to have disproved the phenomenon entirely.

the scientific promise of the 60s was totally and completely squandered.

—

Fixed: the scientific promise of the 40s and 50’s was totally and completely squandered by the 60’s. Everything else since then has been the tail end of the dog wagging ... eventually it came to a screeching halt.

27
posted on 06/28/2012 5:23:16 AM PDT
by PIF
(They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)

Whether it's demonic attacks, extraterrestrials, some government's prototype military aircraft, or just the Zoombquen aliens from the center of the Earth trying to warn us that so many people standing on the Earth's crust is going to break through their ceiling; there is something that causes UFO sightings.

There are too many sightings by military pilots, civilian pilots, radar, etc for there NOT to be something causing it other than mass hysteria.

28
posted on 06/28/2012 5:25:18 AM PDT
by Just another Joe
(Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)

You would think after all these years of fly-bys one of these aliens would get curious to meet the locals and just touch down somewhere and say ‘hey’. Now, maybe they have a prime directive that says don’t disturb other planets except for the anal-probe-middle-of-the-night-thing. But are they all so ethical as to obey it? That means there is very little individuality among them. They must not have any sociologists or anthropologists or liberal arts types on other planets. Otherwise they would be down here telling us what to do for our own good and demanding our valuables for their advise and services.

31
posted on 06/28/2012 5:37:38 AM PDT
by AD from SpringBay
(We deserve the government we allow.)

Sorry, but dismissing unexplained events in religious terms is a constant weakness of believers since the Dark Ages. Too many believers are so arrogant, that if they don’t understand something, it must be God or demonic.
Look at Pentecostals(my faith) and their past rejection of television and movie technology, simply because they didn’t personally understand why it works. That’s arrogance, not faith.

Get over it. There just people looking for a vacation spot to get away from the hustle and bustle of interstellar politics.

Consider: there are millions of hospitable planets among the trillions of stars in the known universe.

Consider: just because something has not been proven, does not mean it does not exist.

Consider: everything we know of the electromagnetic spectrum and its properties comes from four vector equations.

Consider: those four vector equations where transformed from four field equations which were part of 200 field equations.

Consider: the field equations were written in the 19th Century by a noted mathematician - James Clerk Maxwell - and transformed by a self-educated man - Oliver Heaviside, who considered field equations ‘abominations’ and disposed of the the rest on that basis (and personally believed in having other people pay his bills).

Consider: among the millions of habitable planets, that tens of thousands support intelligent life.

Consider: among the tens of thousands which support intelligent life, thousands have civilizations (cultures) far older and more advanced than our own.

Consider: of those thousands of advanced cultures, hundreds did not make the same mistake Heaviside made, and so are not limited by light speed, nor energy limitations as Maxwell's field equations state.

34
posted on 06/28/2012 6:03:04 AM PDT
by PIF
(They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)

I think the people who are deluded are the debunkers, whom some seem to consider essential on many of these programs to provide balance but who in fact cling to some sort of faith that only the mundane exists.

so lemme get this straight: only the mundane does NOT exist, therefore UFOs exist. Is that what you're sayin'?

What you say is true...but there are many folks, not particularly religious folks, who have pondered the idea that what we know as ET is demonic.

Here are a few quotes (Whitley Strieber is/was an agnostic and Jacques Vallee is a non-religious physicist):

"I felt an absolutely indescribable sense of menace. It was hell on earth to be there [in the presence of the entities], and yet I couldn't move, couldn't cry out, couldn't get away. I'd lay as still as death, suffering inner agonies. Whatever was there seemed so monstrously ugly, so filthy and dark and sinister. Of course they were demons. They had to be. And they were here and I couldn't get away." - Whitley Strieber, Transformation, p. 181

"Increasingly I felt as if I were entering a struggle that might even be more than life and death. It might be a struggle for my soul, my essence, or whatever part of me might have reference to the eternal. There are worse things than death, I suspected... so far the word demon had never been spoken among the scientists and doctors who were working with me...Alone at night I worried about the legendary cunning of demons ...At the very least I was going stark, raving mad." - Whitley Strieber, Transformation, p. 44-45

"The 'medical examination' to which abductees are said to be subjected, often accompanied by sadistic sexual manipulation, is reminiscient of the medieval tales of encounters with demons. It makes no sense in a sophisticated or technical framework: any intelligent being equipped with the scientific marvels that UFOs possess would be in a position to achieve any of these alleged scientific objectives in a shorter time and with fewer risks." - Dr. Jacques Vallee, Confrontations, p. 13

"The symbolic display seen by the abductees is identical to the type of initiation ritual or astral voyage that is imbedded in the [occult] traditions of every culture...the structure of abduction stories is identical to that of occult initiation rituals...the UFO beings of today belong to the same class of manifestation as the [occult] entities that were described in centuries past." -Dr. Jacques Vallee citing the extensive research of Bertrand Meheust [Science-Fiction et Soucoupes Volantes (Paris, 1978); Soucoupes Volantes et Folklore (Paris, 1985)], in Confrontations, p. 146, 159-161

While their may be other life in the universe, we pretty well know that it is not within our solar system, and the closest would be over 11 light years away...very long trip.

A long but not impossible trip. A ship traveling 20 light years at half light speed would take 40 years, but the astronaut aboard would only experience only around 15 due to relativity. If ET's artificial intelligence is more advanced than ours, their droids could have been roaming and terraforming this neck of the galaxy for eons, fiddling with the local DNA, or just observing from bases that have existed here on Earth for thousands of years.

The ET crowd now has to rely on the unproven idea of worm holes and parallel universes to keep the dream alive.

No it doesn't.

I welcome any contridictions to what I have posted.

We shall see.

39
posted on 06/28/2012 6:30:38 AM PDT
by Sirius Lee
(Goode over evil. Voting for mitt or obie is like throwing your country away.)

"While their may be other life in the universe, we pretty well know that it is not within our solar system, and the closest would be over 11 light years away...very long trip."

I am a TRUE believer (I really am) but I welcome your skepticism and do not disagree with anything you said except the above statement. You have to consider the possibility that FTL (faster than light) travel has been solved if you are to believe we will ever visit other worlds (or others visit us)

Having said that, I think Bob Lazaar had some credible descriptions of groom lake, and the FTL craft he worked on. I have a BS in Physics and he did NOT say anything inconsistent or just plain wrong.

The only mistake you are making is assuming we know all there is about FTL travel or advanced technologies.

I also look at some of the historical description of "Gods" descending from the heavens- too many to be discounted, especially when you look at some of the ancient structures that were created that we could not do now.

When you consider that the number of abductees consists of those people who either consciously remember being abducted or those who, after having PTSD or other problems, decided to undergo regression hypnosis and then discovered their abduction, there may be many, many more who are abductees but are unaware of it.

Many people, perhaps most people, would be afraid to undergo regression hypnosis for what they might learn. I count myself among that number.

I had a model of that thing back when I was a kid. Very cool. Some relative of mine who was a Air Force Lt. Colonel at Wright-Patterson in Dayton, Ohio saw me playing with it and thought it was the coolest thing he ever saw. He wound up going to the hobby store and buying 3 of them for his group at Wright-Pat.

In other news, UFOs are real. Another buddy and I had the experience of being followed along a country backroad for about 1/2 mile. We were walking and the craft hovered about 100' above us with some light om us. It ehrn took straight up and zoomed off. Both of us had severe sunburns the nest day. Very unusual in that we both were nut-brown country kids during the summer.

I had a model of that thing back when I was a kid. Very cool. Some relative of mine who was a Air Force Lt. Colonel at Wright-Patterson in Dayton, Ohio saw me playing with it and thought it was the coolest thing he ever saw. He wound up going to the hobby store and buying 3 of them for his group at Wright-Pat.

In other news, UFOs are real. Another buddy and I had the experience of being followed along a country backroad for about 1/2 mile. We were walking and the craft hovered about 100' above us with some light om us. It ehrn took straight up and zoomed off. Both of us had severe sunburns the nest day. Very unusual in that we both were nut-brown country kids during the summer.

You’re only commenting on abductions, not UFO sightings. The violent nature of abductions by unusual creatures would produced those feelings. I can only imagine how and alien would view it, if nazis had gone to another world. But that wouldn’t make the nazis demons, only evil.
As for demonic actions, like the sexual reports. Many believers view other religions as demonically influenced, which would include evil behavior such as sexual abductions. Alien religions, if any, would not likely be based on Christ, and therefore likely a form of devil worship. What’s kind of behavior do you expect from alien sinners?
And there are reports in sightings of more than one race. Some have been seen as fairly benign, and only the more aggressive and curious would risk and physical encounter. Whatever they are, judging the actions of one group to represent them all is risky.
Most sightings are mistaken events, easily explained away. Some are hoaxes. But many are buy reputable people. I’m certain and air force or airline pilot can recognize a ship. And most of what is going on doesn’t resemble biblical demonic activity. That usually involved posession, not abduction.
I would suggested looking at Medieval accounts be done with a grain of salt. Everything they didn’t understand was deamed demonic and embellished in stories.

Actual benign sightings are simply ones where someone describes seeing and alien, with minimal or no interaction.
Any abduction would automatically be a hostile act in any sane mindset. As for their intentions? Ultimately, who knows. I’m not a big believer in passive ETs. Life is too hostile for that to work.

I don’t know how much stock to put into alien sightings. Those are much more rare. but UFO are much harder to dismiss. Their source is a mystery, but something is flying around.

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